The University of Puerto Rico in Ponce (UPRP) is the only four-year co-educational higher education undergraduate public institution in the coastal southern region. By implementing the proposed activities, UPR- PRISE will advance UPRP mission and goals for fostering competitive research at this 100% Hispanic-serving undergraduate institution. The research training activities contemplated in this proposal, will serve to build up intellectual and technical capacity that will create a pipeline of well-mind trained students that will succeed in achieving a BS in Biology and further in pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences. The specific aims of this project are oriented towards student development, including sponsorship for summer research internships at research-intensive institutions, creation of a standardized verbal test course to improve GRE scores, conversational English novel practice strategies, promoting of responsible conduct in research, and community based learning. This project also endorses students' interest in research topics by means of seminars, workshops and conferences, and focus on increasing retention. The UPR-PRISE project will improve research experiences required to initiate and promote interest in UPRP students towards competitive research. In addition, the organization and integration of the administrative component along with training of students, will assure the success of the program for increasing retention, graduation, and interest in graduate school.